No sooner had we finished the 2014 06 14 article with an overview of driverless driving –an oxymoron?- when the following information came from our sources at Volkswagen/ Audi:“Simply leave the car at the entrance to the parking garage and the car takes care of the rest by itself.”

With the Volt, General Motors reduced range anxiety, ramp anxiety in parking garages is being taken care of by Audi, Volkswagen’s ‘technology think tank’; — remember their slogan “Advantage through Technology”?

What may sound like science fiction is slowly but surely becoming reality at Audi and other automakers: self-driving cars will let the driver do what s/he likes to do when the driving becomes a chore.

Stop & go traffic, looking for a parking spot when you are already late for an appointment, putting the car ‘to sleep’ in your garage after taking the shopping bags from the trunk — in those situations you have surely wished more than once that the car could take over from you. No?

In just a few year from now, we will be able to tell our car to ”get lost”.

Rather than read in boring terms what happens, why not spend four-and-a-half minutes to see for yourself.

Nevertheless, be aware that the hesitant, and at times exaggerated, movements of the test-Audi that now drives in the parking garage will be a smooth, refined, confident motion when available in any production car in a few years from now.

While in Germany a consortium of 29 companies are working to perfect autonomous vehicles, the North American automotive industry is doing the same, and more: [from the source]“The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute [recently] hosted the 2014 Global Symposium on Connected Vehicles and Infrastructure.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, is home to an ongoing experiment involving so-called talking cars that University of Michigan and government officials say they hope will lead to safer roads. Thousands of wireless connected cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles are operating in the city as a part of the study conducted by the institute.”

All this to make driving safer, to “take the dent out of accident.”

One deep thinker amazed us with the headline “Self driving cars will be especially important if humans beings become extinct in the near future.” No kidding!

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The former industry insider writes with detailed knowledge about working with vehicles from Europe, Asia and America. His professional career includes manufacturer’s R&D time in advanced mobility solutions; working with a museum keeps him connected with history; “On the Inventive Past the Ingenious Future will thrive.” Wand has published more than 750 items in print & digital form since 2002. His well-researched, clearly written articles are used as references by Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks.com